PureDWTS Season 26, Week 2 – Power Rankings
If it felt weird last week to be 1/4 way through this season, it feels even weirder that we’re at the halfway point this week – and the votes from tonight’s show are determining the finalists. I still feel like I’m getting to know these couples…and some of them are still finding their groove…and already I’m having to pick who the ultimate contenders for the MBT are. Is this what it felt like back in season 1? Thirteen years has fogged my memory of those simpler times 😛
I hereby nominate Shad Jennings as the gold standard for guest judges on DWTS 🙂 Seriously, the guy could not have done a better job – he somehow managed to give very personal, very relevant critiques to each couple, while remaining encouraging and keeping it brief. He wasn’t wordy and petty like Donny O., he wasn’t nitpicky & self-aggrandizing like Alfonso, he didn’t try to turn everything into a joke like Kevin Hart, he didn’t ramble on aimlessly like Shania, and he managed to give more than the standard boilerplate “It was great!” responses like Zendaya. Anymore, I couldn’t care less whether the guest judge actually critiques the dance – leave it to three stooges to actually point out the negatives, and let the guest judge be more of a motivator that just happens to score pretty closely to what the stooges do. Shad did just that – and damn, if that man isn’t articulate AF…Shad, if you need a new gig, can you just come narrate my life? Pretty sure you could give an eloquent play-by-play of me flossing my teeth. 😛
Sometimes, I find myself giggling at some of the truly wacky sh*t they make the troupe members do – reminds me of the dumb stuff we made the pledges do back when I was in my sorority, although the fraternities usually far bested us in the “weird stuff to make the pledges do” category. As the sweetheart of one house, I once had pledges of that particular fraternity walking me to class HOLDING AN UMBRELLA OVER MY HEAD for one entire, rainy week, a la Diddy & his hip-hop manservant, Fonzworth Bentley (anyone remember whatever happened to that guy?). Watching Brandon running around in a bear suit, or Hayley doing salsa with Lindsay on her shoulders, or watching the rest of the troupe duck through Kareem’s legs like an never-ending clown car last night just drives the point home that they really do kinda haze the troupe members, before they let them become pros 😛
So with last night’s votes basically determining the three couples who make the finals (and contrary to what fans seemed to be saying last week, it is only THREE couples, not four), I’m left feeling a bit wishy-washy about at least two of those couples. Gun to my head, I think Adam makes it to the finals no matter what, and Jennie doesn’t, no matter what; the other two spots could be any combination of the remaining four couples – my gut says they’re going to do whatever they can to ensure Mirai ends up in the finals, so she’s probably in, too; I think Tonya deserves the third spot in the finals (and I think the producers would absolutely DROOL at the prospect of an all-figure skater finale), but Josh could possibly take it as well if he really does get the NFL vote, and if Chris does well next Monday, he could also be the dark horse, a la Frankie, for that third spot. Really, though – at the rate he’s going, I’d be shocked if anyone other than Adam won this season. Granted, he could (but probably won’t) have an off-week next week or in the actual finals, and it could make it a tighter race between he & Mirai…but at the end of the day, I think Adam pulls this off, no matter what.
1.) Adam & Jenna – There’s only two couples I feel confident in predicting their fate next week – and this is one of them, as I think Adam is really the only one that’s likely guaranteed a spot in the finals at this point. I feel like he’s the best dancer left that doesn’t have personality/likeability issues, and has a pro that can consistently choreograph to his strengths while still serving enough content to please the judges. Really, though – Adam & Jenna just have such synergy together. Shad hit the nail on the head when he talked about chemistry – we know that Adam & Jenna are both great at what they do, but together, they’re greater than the sum of their parts. Quickstep really seemed to suit that upper-body flight of Adam’s that I mentioned last week, and he stayed right in the pocket with the timing, frame, and footwork. Jenna has done a good job of giving him appropriate choreo that he can still have fun with. I think these two are going to be tough to beat in that finale.
2.) Mirai & Alan – *sigh* Mirai, Mirai, Mirai…I knew very little about you headed into this season, and was ready to give you a fair shake despite some viewers complaining that you didn’t paint yourself in a very flattering light in Pyeongchang. But two weeks in a row now, you’ve really grated with some of the things you’ve said/done in your rehearsal packages – and like Jennie, I think you succeeded this week in coming across as totally high-maintenance and whiny, shedding tears over tying for 2nd place last week. Girrrrrl…lock it up. We get it, you’re an Olympian and you’re competitive – but save those tears for when you’re getting 5’s & 6’s in week 1, not 7’s & 8’s. As for Alan – I appreciate him trying to cheer Mirai up, but he still seems pretty green to me as a pro, and is still prone to “excited puppy” syndrome from time to time. The dance itself wasn’t bad, technique-wise – no huge complaints from me there, but the Disney theme and overall production? That felt heavy-handed and very commercial, as if the higher-ups at ABC said “Look, we don’t have time for Disney week this season, so we have to figure out how to give the parent company their promised free advertisement – I know! Let’s just give Mirai the Disney-est song ever, pull a few of the Disney costumes/set pieces out of storage, and to top it all off, we’ll send Mirai & Alan to Disney for the day and tape it for their rehearsal package! Problem solved.” Sure, the dance was pretty – but it also felt like it was trying to sell me a day pass to the Magic Kingdom, while extorting $200+ out of me for Mickey Mouse ears and replica glass slippers, and trying to convince me that my future children will think I’m a failure as a mother if I don’t shell out the $15 for the commemorative cup with the Dole Whips I’m buying them. Just…no. But it tied Mirai for the high score of the night, and probably helped boost her chances of getting into the finals. The question is – can viewers overlook her shortcomings, personality-wise? I think that’s going to end up being the deciding factor in whether or not she makes the finals.
3/4.) TIE: Tonya & Sasha and Chris & Witney – After tonight, I feel like these are the two most likely to be duking it out for that last spot in the final – Tonya continued to prove herself as dancer this week, while Chris threw his hat in the ring as a contender. Tonya had another strong dance, where she managed to stay on-time, maintained a good frame, and still managed to sell the performance – and I think it benefited her that she seemed to embrace the “Redneck Woman” theme, which tells us that she maybe doesn’t take herself quite so seriously anymore. It’s also been encouraging to see a lot of the Tonya hate from the preseason dying down, and I’m seeing a lot more viewers adopting the “it’s a new chapter in her life” outlook and giving her a fair shake – and even if they aren’t, hell, at least they’re shutting up and not blowing up my mentions to rake Tonya across the moral coals. However, I’m interested to see how well she does with the Latin – can she maintain the momentum? As for Chris, I think he wins the “most improved since week 1” award, as I saw some genuinely impressive stuff in his Viennese waltz last night. His footwork was great, he stayed on-time, he was giving us swing and sway…and oddly enough, I found myself most impressed with his side-by-side work with Witney, where they managed to say perfectly synchronized. As I said on Twitter last night – he was giving me serious Hinch-in-week-1-of-season-23 vibes 😎 Chris went from “he’s super cute and charming, and a decent dancer” in week 1, to “holy crap, this guy can really dance – and he’s fun and charming!” in week 2…so I wouldn’t be shocked if he somehow managed to elbow his way into the finale, especially after his appearance in jeopardy last night. Also, props to Witney, who continues to come into her own with her choreography – really liked what she gave us last night.
5.) Josh & Sharna – Sorry to the Sharna fans hoping that this would “finally be the season that she gets her MBT!” – not only do I not think she’ll get it this this time, I’m not even entirely convinced that she’s going to be in the finale after last night. Josh isn’t bad – he’s a definite showman, and he seems like he wants to be there. But he was seriously clipping his lines during his paso last night, and I never felt like he ever fully got in the pocket with the beat. He wasn’t bad in the team dance, but he definitely had some synchronization issues – and I feel like we were seeing the unfortunate result of him having to sacrifice rehearsal time for football stuff. And I think the thing that is really hindering him, aside from what I’ve already mentioned, is that I still feel like I don’t really know Josh – on a regular season, where we had time to get to know the couples more, I feel like we would get more of a feel for Josh as a person by now; I think back to Donald, Shad, Jacoby, etc. and all the personal struggles they had shared by this point in the competition on their respective seasons – and Josh still seems like a stock character to me. Will he get the “NFL vote”? Maybe. But I have to wonder if its effect is diminished on a shorter season like this one.
6.) Jennie & Keo – This is the only other thing I feel confident in saying this week – that Jennie definitely WON’T make the finals. I’m honestly floored that she didn’t get sent packing this week – she had a pretty mediocre, forgettable dance last week (with a relatively tame personality), and tied for the lowest score in the individual round this week (although she did benefit from being on Team 70’s Football, and managed to at least tie for last place with Josh in cumulative score). Additionally, she came across a tad whiny & high-maintenance in her rehearsal package – and even though she tossed around popular demographic buzzwords like “faith” and “God”, I think a decent number of folks like me probably found it grating. Her cha-cha was a hot mess – she didn’t look like she had any idea what to do with her feet, and those stubby T-Rex arms she was giving us just made me cringe. Didn’t really appear to be enjoying herself, either, and generally seemed pretty timid. The look on her face up in the skybox when she said “It’s been fun!” seemed to indicate to me that this has, in fact, NOT been fun for her, and she’s ready to go. Keo, you did the best you could with what you were given – but I don’t know that Jennie was really prepared for this.
Thoughts on the team dances:
Yeah…I’m not going to pretend this was a 100% fair fight, because they stuck the two biggest ringers of the season on a team together, with a better song, a better theme, and generally more able-bodied celebs, while throwing the other team the cumulatively weaker dancers, a harder theme, and a 7’2″ albatross. The one advantage I think Team Tennis had was their pros – Sharna, Lindsay, Witney, & Sasha have a cumulatively MUCH better choreographic prowess than Jenna, Alan, Gleb, & Keo, and the former quartet was able to actually churn out a pretty respectable dance despite deficient raw materials. Turning Kareem into a fairly stationary focal point was a smart choice, as was keeping the synchronized choreo pretty simple so he could keep up; also appreciated that everyone seemed pretty high-energy and like they were having fun, and I’ll give particular props to Chris & Tonya (particularly Tonya) as the MVP’s of Team Tennis, as they seemed to be keeping up with the choreo and really selling the performance well. I will also tip my hat to the fact that they seemed to be trying to use the floor in an interesting way, and were changing shapes and lines quite a bit. Sure, it was a tad sloppy in the end – but not nearly as much worse than Team Football as the judges would like you to think. As for Team Football – yes, they did better on the whole, but I expected them to, given that they had the better raw materials to work with. “Instant Replay” is a helluva lot better song than some obscure big band-style “Baby One More Time” cover; and at least “70s football” invokes a stronger dance theme than does “50’s tennis”. I think throwing in some hustle was a good choice, as it fit the disco theme; I will also commend the men in the dance for remaining in pretty clean synch, and this dance overall had a higher energy level than the other team’s. One huge problematic area I noticed was the section the ladies did near the judges table – complete lack of synch, and it was pretty damn messy…and yet, not a peep from the judges. Don’t think I agree that this was a full four points better than the other team…but it is what it is. Part of me wonders if either Adam or Mirai (I’m leaning towards Mirai) maybe needed a bit of a boost to ensure she made it to the finale…and the team dance was how they accomplished it.
Thoughts on the eliminated couples:
I think the deck was unfortunately stacked against Arike from the get-go – she was dealing with a bunch of red tape due to NCAA regulations, she was juggling being a full-time student with being on DWTS, AND she got saddled with a pro that could use a little help (but seems disinclined to accept any) in the choreography department. I also got the impression that she just felt like a total fish out of water when it came to DWTS – it was just totally different than anything she’d ever done before, and she was having a hard time really giving 110% of herself to the experience…and unfortunately, it showed. But I’m glad we got to see a different side of her last night (even if Gleb’s choreo was, once again, completely lackluster), and I thought she looked lovely 🙂 As for Kareem – what a way to go out on a high note…both literally and figuratively 😛 That salsa was adorable, and Kareem looked like he was having a blast – and leave it to Lindsay to do something we’ve never seen before, and do part of the dance seated on Hayley’s capable shoulders in order to reach Kareem’s height. Other pros, take note – this is how you maintain your relevance as a pro: by constantly thinking outside the box. But after seeing Kareem feel guilty about possibly “messing up” the team dance, I think he was probably ready to go – but really, Kareem did a very respectable job on DWTS, for being the tallest celeb we’ve ever had, with the greatest height difference between he & his partner, and also one of the oldest celebs we’ve had. Sad to see him go, but glad we got to see what we did 🙂
So what are your thoughts after last night? Did the right team win the team dance? Did the right couples go home? Who do you think is headed to the finale?
Call me crazy, but I have a funny feeling Tonya might end up winning this thing. I haven’t been voting for her and still feel a certain degree of uncomfortableness about her on the show, but I think she fits in the demo (the dance last night probably helped her even more with that) and even despite all the haters I think she has a lot of fans.
I think the other person with the best chance of winning. I haven’t heard a lot of the usual “ringer” complaints when it comes to the skaters and he seems to be getting a lot of love.
I think Josh might be able to squeeze in there since we still don’t know the stars that well and as much a lot of people are voting purely based on which pros they like, and the “Sharna deserves to win” crowd still seems to be going strong. I think this was his setback week and next week will be his comeback.
I’d say Chris has a decent chance of making it instead of Josh but the thing with him is he’s great in Ballroom (which is about what I expected) but I wonder how much his Lartin skills will improve since he’s very likely to get another one of those styles next week. He did better than I thought with his Salsa last week but since THREE people are out next week he has to be ON IT.
I’ve said this since pre-season but I think Mirai is going to be the “shock” elimination this season. I really liked her dance last night but it seems a lot of people voting for her are splitting between her and Adam and he seems to have more people voting only for him than she does.
Jennie’s demo appeal kept her safe this week (though I wish it had been Arike since she was refreshing to watch and seemed to be embracing the experience a bit more than Jennie) but I think that runs dry next week. I hope she gets to have a good last week to go out on.
Oops sorry I forgot to say Adam in the second paragraph. Lol.
I agree with a lot of this post Court! I think for a fact Jennie should be one of the 3 eliminated next week. I really wanted to see Keo finally make the finals, but I don’t think this is the season she had overall the worst night.
I also agree about Mirai, I am trying SO hard to connect with her and like her because I’m a huge Alan fan and think he is doing fantastic this season. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of her personality, and crying over a 7 and all 8s on week 1 when people have gotten 4s and 5 before isn’t a good look. I’m not that convinced she is making the final as much as I am Adam.
Ballroom clearly suits Chris way better than the Latin dances. I was not a fan of his salsa last week, but I think he came back strong week 2. Question is, can he come back next week and do a Latin dance justice or is he only going to succeed in ballroom?
I think Josh and Sharna were most definitely underscored. Nothing grinds my gears more than when the judges enjoy a performance and give a good critique to work on, and then the scores don’t really reflect it. He should have gotten 8s across the board, and if he went later in the ineup I think at least one 9 may have been thrown in. Sharna and Josh walked away thinking they did very well and you can tell they were shocked by the 7s. He explained in an interview they were doing 12 hour days between football and dance, so his schedule was pretty hectic this week. I still believe he made a good impression week 1, so I wouldn’t be suprised if he can still squeeze his way in the finale with some fan support he gained and the league support.
I am pretty certain there is no way the show is going to have an all figure skater final (adam, Mirai and tonya) not do I want that (how predictible) Someone is going to be one of the three to be eliminated and It’s most likely one of the girls. I see Josh or Chris getting the final spot in the finale.
Next week I think scores are going to play a HUGE part in who is going to make the finals. I think everyone has to bring their A game, especially those who dipped in score this week.
Excellent as always Miss Court!
Ok mine….
1. Josh and Sharna – This dance was so underscored, but, hey, they did the same to Donald Driver and Rashad Jennings, etc., so he’s in good company and no doubt he’ll keep powering through. This paso had it all for me imo. It was powerful, creative, and what’s more….theatrical. All of my favorite things. And Sharna’s back bend….wow. I just want to watch it and the whole dance over and over. Their costumes were absolutely breathtaking too.
2. Adam and Jenna – I agree with CA on some of his balance issues, but, wow, this dance had it all. I loved their facial expressions. Jenna’s choreo is so impressive and I hope she keeps it up. They were full of fire and then some.
3. Alan and Mirai – I wasn’t happy with their dancing last week, but, they made up for it this week. They pushed themselves. They were breathtaking not to mention full of magic and charm. They were the come back kids. Stunning!
I think I will tie these two as I am torn who should go next:
4. Tonya and Sasha – Like Bruno, I wasn’t sure I was going to like this theme and dance at first, but they proved me wrong (which I love). They danced with all of their guts, heart, and soul again (Keep doing just that , Sasha and Tonya!). Lightening speed foot work and they were having a blast and enjoying every moment. Well done!
4. Chris and Witney – He nailed everything technically. What’s more he made us”feel” it. So romantic and beautiful. Loved their glides.
5. Jennie and Keo – I had high hopes for these two last week, but, now I’m worried. They were off and Keo didn’t seem as happy and into it, but, I still enjoyed them. I just love her heart.
Brandon’s dancing bear takes number one spot in my rankings!
Last place for me: nods to 70’s Elvis and a Britney Spears’ song to represent the 50’s.
Adam/Jenna:
Lessons from the C Bros School of Time Mismanagement were in full effect and I yelled at the TV when it happened but enjoyed all that followed,
Mirai/Alan:
The Disney pimpage was stomach churning and distracting. I couldn’t tell which Disney movie they were pimping (all of them?). But a great dance nonetheless,
Josh/Sharna:
A solid frame for the picture that Sharna is painting for us,
Tonya/Sasha:
Has a nice flow with Sasha and the redneck pride theme worked well for her. Having her running scared from a bear was a brilliant way to cover up any performance jitters or halting movements,
Jennie/Keo:
I am a huge fan of Janelle Monae and the song they used, but what was the original song that was supposedly too hot for TV Jennie? I like how folks here noted that a rhinestone sheerish catsuit was OK, but a *song* was too raunchy? Alrighty, then.
Chris/Witney:
He seems great and I heart Witney but these guys are fading into the woodworks for me.
A 4th judge is beyond unnecessary this truncated season but if it’s gonna be someone, I’m glad it was Rashad. He was kind and classy with real feedback. I was impressed by how slickly he dropped his book promo, and now I must buy that book for everyone I know.
The only one I’m certain of besides Adam and Mirai making it (because TPTB will make certain of it) is that Jennie will not make it and Josh/NFL/Sharna probably makes it. DWTS has become more about the pro than the star and Sharna is more popular than Sasha and the fact that she has not won and Witney has he may get by Chris So my picks for finale is Adam Mirai and Josh Although it’s a toss up with Chris possibly Tonya because TPTB love a story
Hmm…I’m over this season. That said, anything other than Adam winning will shock me. As always, there is an agenda, I do wonder about the votes for Mirai. She does herself no favors whenever she speaks. I love Chris and I think in a longer season, he and Witney would have went far. I think TPTB would love a final 3 of the three figure skaters, oh how they could spin it. I’m ready for this to be over.
Following YouTube official Dancing with the Stars video views: So far as of 1:00 pm Tuesday, Adam 97K, Mirai 57K, Josh 42K, Tonya 40K, Chris 31K and Jennie 29K. Relevant or not, it is interesting to follow.
Courtney, I agree with your order, including the “Who knows?” between Tonya and Chris for the third spot.
It was good to ne able to watch the entire episode at one time without finding bits and pieces on YouTube!
It just seems really strange that a winner will be declared in two weeks with what, six or seven dances and one team dance?
It would really have been great to see these contestants being given a proper length season. I am no fan of this abbreviated format.
We are at this point, however, guaranteed a new Mirror Ball pro unless Witney comes through with Chris!
I don’t know what happened to Mirai. She seemed a lot sweeter and endearing when she was younger, say, 8 or so years ago. Maybe getting robbed of a spot 4 years ago in Sochi has something to do with it.
Pimping aside, Shad and the team dances were by far the highlight of the night for me. From there, my faves were:
Tonya – By far, I most enjoyed her dances this week. She performed well and seemed to be enjoying it so much more than last week (and her endearing partnership with Sasha maintains).
Arike – I wish she could have stayed another week. She had innate movement and performance quality that would’ve been wonderful to see progress over a standard season (with a more adept pro).
Kareem – His Salsa was a vast improvement over last week (kudos to Lindsay and Hayley for their parts). Granted, he overall wasn’t much of a dancer but always such a delight to see.
Adam – Very upbeat, colorful number. I’m more dubious on Jenna as a pro than some. We’ll see how she holds up when given a less capable, extravagant partner.
Mirai – Lovely, if not generic, promo dance. Jury’s out on his choreographic chops, but I like what we’ve seen of other aspects of Alan as a pro.
Chris – I like him and this week’s improvement (including co-MVP of the team dance along with Tanya) but am losing him in this season’s format. I do think he’s in trouble come a liftless Latin dance if not before (something tells me he’d do a mean Argentine Tango though).
Josh – While I do think they were shafted a bit last night, this performance underwhelmed me and was forgotten by the end of the night. Mostly, was that I got the sense they weren’t enjoying this week for reasons beyond busyness…combining that with their tough running order and team score deficit doesn’t help his chances of advancing.
Jennie – Call me befuddled. Watching the package, part of me wondered why she’d agree to do the show or if she’d even seen it before while another applauded her standing up to the rampant oversexualization of the show. Then the final presentation left me scratching my head as to what her problem was in the first place.
Anyway, her dancing was so-so (read: needed work but she wasn’t a hopeless cause). But the biggest bother to me was that she seemed to go about changing the song without involving her partner (even if his muster as a pro has been questionable). Now I know edits can be deceiving, but there seemed to be a rift between the two last night and when you’re profile, personality and dancing are so-so amongst a triple elim…
If I had to guess (without the benefit of PH’s #s post of yet), I’d say Tonya, Adam and Tonya make the final.
P.s. Now that he is older and the family will be promoting a new show premiering in the fall, SO hoping frequent audience member Robert Irwin is a contestant next season (with Lindsay or maybe even Hayley).
“Next week I think scores are going to play a HUGE part in who is going to make the finals.”
Wasn’t it last night’s scores (and votes) that determine who moves onto the finals?
Wynn, last night’s scores went towards last night’s eliminations. Last night’s votes plus the scores they receive next Monday will determine who moves onto the finals.
Lawson (#12), that’s my pet peeve about this season. They know how many votes a celebrity has before they give their scores. They can manipulate it and get who they want to move on. Whether they do that or not, having the possibility that they could out there kind of dirties perceptions.
Thanks for the clarification, Lawson. It wasn’t clear to me from the last week’s #s post. I wonder if we’ll even be able to have any numbers posts since this warped seasonette is blatantly backloading points.
I do agree that Adam/Jenna and Marai/Alan will definitely be in the finals. Both are lovely dancers, and both can do anything that Jenna and Alan can throw at them. Yes, it may not have been the best thing to show, but I found her tears very honest. She’s a competitor, and obviously quite hard on herself, and probably a bit of a perfectionist, and was having problems right then of being found “less than.” It all did play into the producers whim, so they can have their whole “Alan comforts Marai with a day at Disney” schtick they did. She reminds me of Kristi quite a bit. Adam, I know, will most likely win, and he definitely wants it, because it’s been brought up repeatedly. I do prefer Marai/Alan though, if only for the simple fact that as an introvert, I’m finding the combination of 2 extreme extroverts of Adam and Jenna waaaayyy too exhausting.
I did enjoy Josh/Sharna’s dance, but I think it suffered from “KnightRiderBhangra” situation. You’re dancing to this theme song, everyone knows it and you need to make it as similar as possible while using absolutely NOTHING to do with the movie, and don’t make it too similar. Sharna’s a FABULOUS choreographer, but add that onto the already limited time they had this past week, while learning 2 dances and have them go first so their scores can be deflated…. I think they did as well as they could.
I LOVED Tonya/Sasha’s dance! I loved the fun, I loved it! And the bear! It really seemed to “fit” her, and seeing her have so much fun and smiling so hard made me smile!
Since their song was changed on Thursday, and the costumes are started first thing Tuesday morning, could it be that Jennie’s catsuit was planned for the other song, and she and Keo were told they couldn’t start a whole new costume?
I did enjoy Chris/Witney’s waltz, and it’s great to see how much he’s remembering from judges comments.
For me, Mirai should have been a few points ahead of Adam. Though I find her extremely annoying to listen to, her dance was absolutely beautiful. Adam just seemed ‘off’ to me – I actually thought Tonya’s quickstep was better than his (though I found the bear annoying). I also really like Chris and found him a bit underscored both weeks.
I don’t get the Josh love – I found him overmarked last week and extremely clunky this week.
If I could pick the final 3, just based on dancing ability and not likeability or whatever, to me I’d absolutely go for Adam, Mirai and Tonya.
I feel like Jenna has toned down her mugging quite a lot (though Sharna IMO has taken over as the mugger now). I also don’t know for sure, but Witney’s face looks a bit different for me this season. I don’t know if it’s makeup, or if something has been done, but it’s just not the same (from my wholly non-professional point of view)
I am noticeably younger than the main demographic of the show and I super love figure skating, so on paper, Mirai should be my perfect celeb. But I find her much less compelling than Adam, Tonya, or Chris. I think she will make the finale, but I’d much rather see a combination two of either Chris, Tonya, or Josh. Of course, the mirror ball is Adam’s barring a miracle.
I think Adam and Tonya were the MVPs of their respective teams because they didn’t stick out even though they had to blend with three pros of their gender. The section where Chris and Josh were supposed to be in sync with Sasha, they were all over the place and it highlighted their lack of rehearsal time instead of disguising it.
Sorry to see Kareem leave but I am sure he never expected to win and honestly did deserve to go. Lindsay did wonderful with him but knew there would be no mirror ball this season. I am sure that Adam & Mirai will be in the finals, but their personalities really grate on my nerves. I’m surprised to say that I think Tonya has a chance to join them in the finals, but I still don’t see her winning. If Adam & Jenna win she is assured a spot as pro on the fall season, hope the rest of “the Fam” stays home.
I watched the individual dances today on YouTube.
I agree with you Courtney that this is Adam’s MBT to lose. He and Jenna connect so well. I didn’t mind the messing around in the beginning. Derek did it with Nicole Scherzinger in S10 with their week 2 jive…chatting up Pam Anderson in the celebriquarium. Now if it becomes a part of every.single.dance like her BF and his bro tend to do? Then that’s different. I LOVED his comment to Rashad. Quick with the comeback, that one!
I was impressed with Tonya’s dancing although her costume did her absolutely no favors. It was hideous IMHO especially with the cowboy boots. I get the look Sasha was going for but..nah. She should’ve been dressed like she was going to the Met Gala which would’ve been in high contrast to the song.
LOVED Hayley dancing blind with Lindsay on her shoulders! Hayley said in her Insta-story that she went from DWTS to a class with Nika Kljun who was one of the MOVE LIVE dancers in the first go-round in 2014, as was Hayley. AND taking classes with Shirley?? BRAVO GIRL!
Mirai is a whiner. You got a 7 in week 1! Some contestants never got a 7 from anybody.
Chris, Jennie and Josh were also ok. I agree. Jennie is toast.
Adam is a shoo-in for the finals. Other than that, I’m not sure.
Jennie’s telling media (Us Weekly and other sources) that she refused to do the original Janelle Monae song, “Make Me Feel,” because she wanted “to glorify God out there” and “it’s not something we listen to in our house.”
As a Janelle fan (I’ve seen every one of her concerts she’s done in my town and briefly met her!) and a bigger fan of people not being bigoted dill holes about LGBT people, this breaks my heart 🙁
The more Adam, Mirai, Chris and Tonya dance, the more this season seems like a huge waste. I want more than 4 weeks with these people. Even with Mirai’s annoying self. I’m surprised once again with Tonya. It’s refreshing to see an “older” woman be this good and able. I don’t remember anybody being like that since Jennifer Grey? Or I suppose Nancy Kerrigan is close to her age too. Maybe there are others. Whatever, I just like when people surprise me. And I like Tonya.
I think Adam is the easy winner for this season. I agree that Mirai and Tonya are probably the other two.
Finally, Comic Sans for the Dance Cam? Really?
Wow Nukegrrrl, if that’s the reason she backed outta dancing to Janelle Monáe than she can’t hit the road fast enough for me. Being a Christian doesn’t give you license to be a bigoted, judgmental twit.
Why did she wait several days also to figure all this out. That was a disservice to her pro.
@Nukegrrl @Susan2 After reading her interview and the lyrics I assumed it was the suggestive lyrics (especially when she talks about her 5 year old) and not the artist herself.
At first I thought this abbreviated season might work to ABC’s advantage but I don’t think so anymore. I’m really disappointed this season is so predictable. Of course the skaters are the best dancers. They come in with an advantage that’s particularly glaring with such a short season. There’s really no time to develope skill. They should have had all skaters or eliminated them entirely in order to make it competitive. Of course the best dancer doesn’t always win, but still, I kind of feel like why bother watching or voting. I’m left feeling sad for those eliminated because they barely got started. Chew em up and spit them out as fast as you can till the last ones standing. Ugg!
I may be in the minority but I would pick Mirai to win over Adam. Mirai’s tears didn’t bother me. If she did it every week maybe but she came off as a sweet girl and I understood her competitive mindset. Maybe because I’m in the demo for the show I feel more maternal toward her feelings than I might’ve otherwise. I like Adam. I was worried he might be obnoxious and annoying and he isn’t. He’s a good combo of fun and serious. I think it’s the pro for these celebs that puts Mirai over Adam for me. Alan is just a genuine good, sometimes goofy, guy but he always has been his authentic, genuine, self. I have never been a Jenna fan and although she isn’t as overtly desperate for attention as she always acted before, I still don’t see a connection with her. Just a muted version of the old. totally my opinion of course. I still don’t know who this girl is.
Tonya is my dark horse from before the first show aired and I wouldn’t be surprised if she made it to the finals now. I adore Chris so I’d be happy if either were the 3rd finalist but I kind of see Mirai, Adam and Tonya in the final three. I’m happy for Tonya either way. She made it half way already and I bet she didn’t expect it even if she wanted it. She’ll can go home with some sense of peace at not being a public pariah anymore, even if it’s from a dancing show, since the public votes. It matters.
#16 Lori i’m glad to see someone else didn’t see Mirai’s meltdown as off putting as many others. i definetly agree with your thoughts on that. In addition she is probably exhausted from all the traveling and training shes doing. I can’t imagine shes getting much sleep. It just may have got the best of her and unfortunately the producers caught it.
Court I would agree with you on the power rankings this week. I am Hoping for Adam Mirai and Chris in the finally ( I can honestly say i would love any of them to win) with Tonya as an alternate for Chris. I really don’t care for Josh. I get more Antonio vibes from him than shad. So I hope he goes with Jennie next week.
On the team dance. I expected based on choreography skill to like team tennis better but honestly it just seemed messy to me. I think sometimes with the team dances less is more. If there’s too much going on it gets distracting and hard to watch. So I think that’s why I enjoyed team football more. It was fun enjoyable and clean. It reminds me of how I felt about last seasons team dances Team Phantom felt clean, elegant and enjoyable, Team monster mash felt like a big ol mess of too much choreography.
What makes you so sure that those who don’t care for Mirai are NOT in the demo, Maria?? Bad assumption, I can tell you that. It also wasn’t just last week that turned me off Mirai – I didn’t care for her from week 1. And she said it herself – too valley girl.
I don’t dislike Mirai, I’m sorta neutral on her. Which isn’t exactly a good thing. Actually I prefer to watch her partner rather than her. Alan seems to be trying really hard to make them into an interesting, likable team. Almost too hard.
There’s nothing wrong with a female athlete being super competitive. There’s no “right” way for a woman athlete to be, she can be her authentic self. However, on this particular reality competition show, likability and being a sympathetic, entertaining, relatable person are very important.
If she were on a longer normal season, where you have weeks to really show the audience the layers of yourself under the facade, than she might have more of a chance, but it just isn’t going to happen in an abbreviated season like this.
Adam has the exact perfect personality for the short season. He came in entertaining, fun and likeable straight out of the gate. Plus he has a partner who knows how to frame a sparkling diamond in the best setting.
As far as Tonya goes, I feel a weird kind of sisterhood with her. She’s not perfect and has made mistakes in her life, as have I, but she’s a survivor, as am I. I want her to succeed in life.
PH – “What makes you so sure that those who don’t care for Mirai are NOT in the demo, Maria?? Bad assumption”
Good point. I didn’t really think that through.